We Ride Sport and Trail Magazine August 2017 | Page 17

Professional Cutting Horse Trainer, Personal Performance Coach, Author, Clinician, and Equine Consultant. In 2012 Barbra was inducted into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame

With this approach, you have a totally customized achievement plan.

This is your journey. Drink it up.

9. Be forever grateful … for the incredible opportunity to do what you do … for your horse … for your friends … for your trainer … for the awesomeness of just being able to physically get up in the morning and go show a magnificent horse. Really, when you think about it, what a magical opportunity you have. There is no failure … only experiences. You are so lucky!

10. You are always enough. Where you are at this moment is perfect. You are growing. You’re extraordinary. There is no failure. There is only an adventure. That is the soul of competition … drinking up all of the

magnificence of your own incredible

journey. Enjoy!

5. Showing is an adventure. Oh my! You never know what’s going to happen. There’s that soulful relationship with your horse you absolutely cherish. How are the two of you going to mesh today? There are all the people you get to meet. That’s always a trip! There’s the show management. There’s the weather. There’s the ground. For those of us who work cattle, we wonder what the beasts will be like today … fire eating dragons or puppy dogs? Who knows what the day will bring? Enjoy being amazed. Life is meant to be an adventure!

6. For a particular show season, set an “outcome” goal you can measure and that thrills you. This will fuel your motivation to get going and pick yourself up when you fall. An example would be to win a year end award of some kind. But once that goal is set, just keep it quietly in your heart. Turn it over to God … or to the stars. You can’t control it. But you can control many things. Show by show, class by class, focus on the tiny baby steps you can do, like how you use your seat or feet, or how you prepare yourself and your horse. When you set these “performance” goals and you focus on them, you will automatically be taken to your best possibility to achieve your outcome goal. That’s all you can do! And you can bet you will grow your skills … and hopefully attain your outcome goal.

7. Don’t just set your performance goals, get passionate about them. Focus like a laser beam on them each and every ride, moment by moment. There’s nothing else for you to do. You’ve prepared. You’re at the show. Go for it.

8. Video each ride. Study it closely. Evaluate your ride in tiny pieces. Give yourself a celebratory fist pump for what you did well. Own these pieces. Don’t skip this step. Wherever you fell short, search the video for exactly where the error just barely began. That's the place to improve upon next time.

If you compete...

you signed up for a

big adventure